Gravity problems
by Rogercat
Summary: It is not exactly fun for Hades to visit Zeus' realm in the sky


It was yet another one of the feasts Zeus suddenly could get his mind about and order everyone to be present. And as it was still summer, Midsummer to be precise, Persephone did not have a legal excuse to escape.

That was, naturally, leaving for the Underworld and his position as Consort to the Lady of the Dead for the winter season.

"Ugh, why did this not happen in autumn during the harvest so Mother and I could be busy with other things instead? The party have just started and I am already bored out of my mind," he groaned loudly, where he was laying down on a large blanket beside his half-sisters Artemis and Athena.

"Because you are not one to like getting drunk? " Athena suggested, where she was spinning some wool into thread. Then a more unwelcomed voice said:

"Admit it, little brother, there is _**another reason**_ to why you want it to be autumn…"

In response, Ares suddenly got a large collection of bloomed flowers thrown into his face from the younger son of Zeus.

"Go and make Aphrodite _swell up_ with yet another one of your brats instead of snooping in the privacy of others, idiot!"

Granted, it was not really planned that the two half-brothers would almost start a fist-fight, but Ares never seemed to learn just how quickly Persephone could use roots and vines to bind him up. Also, the son of Demeter might seem skinny but he was a lot stronger when using the darker part of his power as the Consort of the Underworld.

"Please do not spill over our wine which Dionysos gave us earlier."

Taking a quick break, Athena lifted up the jar with wine in one hand while Artemis looked very tempered to join into the fight.

"Sep! Guess what, _**your special lady**_ have arrived!" Dionysos called, waving with one hand to better get the attention of his half-siblings. Ares was more or less forgotten as Persephone hurried away.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Just as Persephone had worried about, Hades seemed be fine on a distance but once close up, her face told a different story.

"Damn...gravity differences from….home…"

More she did not manage to complain about, before all the warning signs of her airsickness overwhelmed her and she would have collapsed from the carriage. Persephone managed to catch her and held her silver hair out of place with some of his vines, before her stomach emptied itself on the yard.

"Hestia's kitchen...now….!"

The kitchen area of Olympos was a bit lower than the rest of the palace, and that was the domain of Hestia.

"The gravity again, sister dear?"

This was hardly the first time Hades had ended up in the kitchen to try and recover from airsickness, so Hestia would have found it very unusual if her older sister did not get stranded in the kitchen during a visit.

"The earth is perfectly fine, so there is no trouble on my summer visits to my young husband. It is when I must get higher up in the air as it gets so annoying. And no, I am in no mood to greet the other family members," Hades muttered from a bed placed in a corner, where she was resting after getting some water to rinse out her mouth with. Persephone was seated at a small table, enjoying some pomegranates as he listened to his wife and aunt talking.

"Nice to see you, aunt Hades," Athena greeted from the door, having just dragged Ares to his bedchamber and locked the door so the God of War had to try freeing himself from the vines without help.

"Nice to see you as well, Pallas Athena," Hades said in a low voice, not trusting herself to sit up yet. Thankfully, Athena was satisfied with a handshake at seeing how her oldest aunt was still a lot more pale than normally.

A set of uneven footsteps was heard coming closer, and indeed it was no one else than Hephaestus. The sound had been from the iron splint around his left leg, to better support his weight since that leg had been lame from birth and not even Apollo had managed to fully heal it, even with his powers as a God of healing.

"Greetings to you, aunt Hades. I have finished that commisson for you and cousin Sep as you both requested when he returned to Demeter this spring."

It was a slender gold band, unornamented, exactly the type Hades personally preferred to wear as a crown, while she generally liked golden hairpins, earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings inlaid with opals and amethyst to show off herself as the Queen of the Underworld. Though there was a few black onyx stones in the jewelry as well.

"And this is for you, cousin."

As the Consort of the Underworld, Persephone tended to wear jewelry of silver to bring out his tanned skin and red hair, with emeralds to remind of his ties to spring and fertility.

"Wow, thank you for your hard work, Hephaestus! Is there anything you like as payment?"

Persephone and Hephaestus got along pretty well, a rare thing for the son of Demeter who was not exactly fond of his sire.

"Keep Ares tied up with your vines until dawn, I want to have my wife for myself this night, that is all."

By now, Hades felt well enough to gather the strength to leave. If she stayed any longer, she knew that she would not be able to remain conscious because of how she struggled with the gravity up here.

"I would love to stay, but I fear that would be a horribly bad idea. Persephone, are you and Demeter staying or can all three of us return to her house for a calmer evening?"

Persephone promised to find Demeter and tell her of this change of plans, he knew that his mother would love some talk with her sister.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

It was blissfully quiet in the house Demeter owned, as the two sister and the young God of Spring returned there.

"You are already looking a little better, honey."

That was true, Demeter had to agree, some colour had returned to Hades' face now when they was not so far up in the air anymore.

"It helps a lot to just leave the top of Olympos and get back further down to the earth, the closer to the Underworld the better. I do not know why I get sick like that, but I think it have something to do with the thinner air up there…"

From how it sounded indoors from the kitchen area, Persephone was already keeping himself busy with fixing something for them to eat.

"You raised him well to respect women and understand the meaning of _consent_ in a relationship. Our marriage is far more harmonious than if he had been anything like his bastard to father."

Demeter smiled at her older sister as she poured up some heated water with mint leaves in it, into some cups.

"If he had been anything like Zeus when it comes to women, I would have ensured to send him to the Erinyes for a lesson."

Hades laughed at that comment.

"Poor Sep, he would have been scared like nothing before if that had happened. No it is better that he have this wonderful personality and was not afraid to marry this old woman."

"You may the oldest of us six siblings, but you are hardly a grandmotherly age yet. In fact, I am happy that my son fell for you and not one of his sisters not born from Hera. That would have been a very troublesome match, I think."

By now, Persephone arrived back with some finished food.

"Some fresh fruits, cheese, olive oil and bread seems to be enough for us three, right?"

"Yes, please."

A simple meal, perhaps, but it was not like they planned for a big feast. Besides, Hades needed to return to the Underworld soon, so she could not stay all night if she wanted some sleep before a new working day.

Still, Demeter pretended to not notice when her son and sister hurried upstairs to Persephone's own bedchamber for some quick love-making before Hades had to leave. It was not like that their marriage was a sexless one, they simply had some tension built up by each other's absence.

One that was done, it was time for Hades to return to the Underworld.

"See you another day, Persephone. You know that I will not let a whole six months pass without seeing you once in a while here."

They kissed in a very passionate manner, and Demeter had to do a small cough to remind them that they was being watched.

Then, Hades drove her carriage away and soon vanished into the starry night.

"Three long months left before I returns to the Underworld...I hope that she will try and visit at least once. Because while I can do abstinence to a certain level, I do not think we have been married long enough to manage that for six months apart," Persephone muttered for himself, feeling less tensive now after meeting with his wife again, even if it was for just a evening.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Author's note:

Given that the Underworld logically should be deep below the earth, I thought it logical that poor Hades might suffer from airsickness because of the gravity changes from her realm and the very top of Olympus where Zeus and the other Gods live.


End file.
